Welcome to our site ...

The National Health Service (NHS) is facing a £4.4 billion bill for medical negligence claims for 2001. The number of claims being paid out has risen by more than 50% in the last three years. In 1998, the bill stood at £2.3 billion.

This doesn't mean that NHS staff has become 50% more negligent, rather it appears that the increase is primarily due to patients seeking legal redress more often when medical mistakes occur. Patients are more aware of their legal rights than in the past. Also, the system has made it easier to sue than ever before. The increase in the number of 'No Win - No Fee' law firms has also added to the problem. Recent big payouts awarded by courts have also prompted more people to make claims of negligence.

Mistakes that can cause such negligence claims against the NHS can, among others, include errors made during surgery, mistakes on prescribing drugs or in administering the medicines.

To address the problem, the government established the NHS Litigation Authority to deal with all claims of negligence. Prior to that time, individual trusts dealt with their own legal matters making for a bit of a patchwork system. Now all cases will be dealt with in a regularised manner. The Litigation Authority will also make the payments, though the money will come from the individual trust where the negligence occurred.

This massive claims payout has a direct affect on service delivery. Each trust has an annual budget that they must work within. If they must compensate patients at these high levels it means that the money must be cut from other areas of their budget if they are to come out balanced at the end of the year. The government has promised a big increase in the coming year for the NHS, but experts feel that the increase will just be swallowed up by the negligence claims having no effect on the quality of the facilities within NHS or improvement in service delivery as it was meant to do.

Prof. Sir Liam Donaldson, the chief medical officer for England, has been delegated the task to compile a White paper on the negligence procedures. He may recommend a 'No Fault' compensation or fixed fee structure to try and at least to put a ceiling on how much an individual patient can claim from the NHS for negligence.